Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
| Ask a question |
| Request a visit |
| Potentially harmful content statement |
Overview of the Collection |
|
| Creator: | Buffington, Kath, 1951 or 1952. |
| Title: | Kath Buffington Papers |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1963-2000 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1981-2000 |
| Quantity: | 2.25 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, printed material and posters/memorabilia relating to non-violent direct action and war/tax resistance. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Biographical History
Kath Buffington (1951 or 1952) is an American environmental, peace, and social justice activist from Rochester, New York. A long-time member of the Syracuse Peace Council and the Syracuse Area Committee on Environmental Quality, Buffington has participated in and educated others on non-violent direct actions. Among her other activities, she participated in the March for a Non-Nuclear World in Washington, D.C. (1982), Griffiss Plowshares at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, and Protest the Cruise/Stop the B-52s (1983). In the early 1980s she spent 18 months in England as a representative of the War Resisters League of New York City where she worked with the International War Resisters.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Kath Buffington Papers consists of correspondence-subject files, posters and memorabilia, and printed material.
The bulk of Correspondence-subject files is with the IRS and relates to Buffington's "redirection" of a portion of her taxes to peace and social justice organizations. A small amount is with the charitable organizations to which Buffington donated the peace tax or with her employers.
I was a "tax resister" (or a redirection tax payer or a peace tax payer) from 1981 until 1996. Each year, I claimed a "peace tax" deduction and withheld the money from the IRS. I then paid it to a person or organization who was doing the kind of thing I felt we should be supporting with our tax dollars. The oversized check was in year's redirection.
There is also material relating to protests surrounding Alexander Haig's commencement speech at Syracuse University and educational/training material on non-violent direction action in general.
Posters and memorabilia consists of a range of items -- posters, fliers, an oversize check, and so on -- relating to marches, protests, or other actions.
Printed material contains newsletters and brochures, the majority of which are issues of the Peace Newsletter published by the Syracuse Peace Council. Other organizations represented include the Rochester Peace and Justice Education Center, A. J. Muste Memorial Institute, and Syracuse University's Student Research Group.
Arrangement of the Collection
Alphabetical by subject or title; within that, chronological.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Correspondence : Tax arguing (Box 2) is closed for the life of the donor.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Related Material
Two books were donated with the collection and have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. They are Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching, edited by Dave Foreman and Bill Haywood, and Fange Fr Fred, by Per Hengren. Please see Libraries Search to locate these items.
Special Collections Research Center has made a concerted effort over the years to ensure that its manuscript and rare books holdings complement each other. As a result, many of our manuscript collections are supported by books, pamphlets, serials and other items which are cataloged in the Rare Books Collection. Please be sure to search Libraries Search for these related materials.
Subject Headings
Persons
Corporate Bodies
Associated Titles
Subjects
Places
Genres and Forms
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Kath Buffington Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Gift of Kath Buffington, 2013.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: MRC
Date: 29 Aug 2013
Revision history: 23 May 2017 - posters rehoused, new ones added (MRC)
Inventory
| Correspondence-subject files | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Haig action 1981 - clippings, petitions, fliers, newspaper coverage, (2 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Non-violent direct action, conflict resolution, communication | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Non-violent direct action, organizing | ||||||||||
| Tax arguing | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | IRS letters, tax forms, etc. 1981-2000 | ||||||||||
| RESTRICTED: Closed for the life of the donor. | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Summaries - handwritten notes on taxes calculated, withheld, paid; tax liens; etc. | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Miscellanous 1983-1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 2001 - correspondence with employers, charities | ||||||||||
| Posters and memorabilia | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Donor's notes - does not discuss every item, only selected items | ||||||||||
| Map-Case 127 | "Barnum & Bailey / Greatest Show on Earth" | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Disarmament Now" | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Don't Waste New York" 1989 | ||||||||||
| Map-Case 127 | "La fille de l'ouvriére" (The worker's daughter) artist E. Clair-Guyot | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | Griffiss Plowshares Thanksgiving 1983 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | Human poster, "I represent these 263 U.S. Citizens who are part of the Web" 1982 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | [Join the cavalry] ВСТУПАЙТЕ ДО ЧЁРВОНОЇ КІННОТИ | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Life and love among the beatniks" | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Like a Mountain" by Naomi Littlebear - poster includes text of poem | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "March for a Non-Nuclear World" 1982 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" August 28, 1963 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "No classified conversation in car pools" Industrial Security Poster #26 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | Nagasaki commemorative banner | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Protest the Cruise / Stop the B-52s" 1983 - in French and English | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Rally for Peace and Justice, Washington, D.C." April 25, 1987 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Reclaiming the legacy of American radicalism" - advertisement for Haymarket Series of titles from Verso Editions | ||||||||||
| Map-Case 127 | "Refuse to Register" | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | "Syracuse Peace Council Bleeding Heart Club Band" | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Syracuse Herald-Journal photograph Apr 1970 - reproduction of photo from the first Earth Day celebration | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | War tax redirection check 10 Apr 1982 | ||||||||||
| Oversize 1 | Unidentified man - older man, bow tie, head and shoulders portrait, "M. Baer, 1920" in upper right corner | ||||||||||
| Printed material | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | A. J. Muste Memorial Institute Discussion Series #1: Tactics and Strategies for the Peace Movement 1985 | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | "Brain Trust of the Empire" booklet 1974 - anti-war and anti-imperialism publication about Syracuse University, produced by Student Research Group | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Nuclear Times Jun 1983 | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Peace Newsletter 1974, 1980-1986, 1993 - not a complete run, there are numerous gaps (9 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Rochester Peace and Justice Education Center Jun 1983 | ||||||||||